Vegetable-washer.



No. 7l0,422. v Patanted 001:; 7, I902.

- M. H. BUTLER &. C. A. LARSON.

VEGETABLE WASHER.

(Application filed Sept. 17, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

MILTON H. BUTLER AND CARL A. LARSON, OF CHERRYCREEK, NEW YORK.

VEGETABLE-WASHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,422, dated October7, 1902. Application filed September 17, 1900. Serial No. 30,825. (Nomodel.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it knownthat we,MILTON H. B UTLER and CARL A.LARSON, citizens oftheUnitedStates, residing at Oherrycreek, in the county of Chautauquaand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Vegetable-\Vasher,of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to certain improvements in vegetable-washers, andhas for its object to provide a device of simple and eco'- nomicalconstruction by which fruit and vegetables may be thoroughly washedwithout injury and automatically drained and discharged from the machineinto a suitable receptacle.

With these and other objects-in view the in vention consists in thenovel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings,and particularly pointed out inthe appended claim. A

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View of a vegetable-washing machineconstructed in accordance with our invention, a portion of the outerforaminous cylinder being broken away in order to more clearlyillustrate the interior parts. tional elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional elevation of the machine on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

5 designates a suitable tank or trough having at its opposite endsbearings 6 and 7 for the support of a horizontally-disposed shaft 8, thelatter being provided at one end with a driving-pulley 9. On the shaft 8is secured a closed cylinder 10, having a perfectly smooth exteriorsurface to prevent injury to the fruit or vegetables, said cylinderbeing somewhat shorter than the tank and so arranged that its lowerportion will be slightly below the water-line. On the cylinder 10 issecured a helical flange or screw 12, which progresses from one'end ofthe cylinder to the other, and this helical flange supports acylindrical foraminous casing 13, the opposite ends of which are securedto circular end pieces let and 14. The end piece 14 is inthe form of aring and is supported by spokes 15, extending radially from the closedcylinder in or- Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sec-.

der to afford spaces for the introduction of the vegetables or fruit tothe space between the two cylinders. From the opposite end of the closedcylinder 10, which is considerably shorter than the cylinder 13, extenda series of spokes 16, secured to both cylinders and serving as asupportfor the outer cylinder,

that portion of the outer cylinder projecting beyond the end of thecylinder 10 being of sufficient strength to support the end disk 14, thelatter being closed to prevent the escape of fruit or vegetables fromthe outer cylinder except at the central portion, where a small openingis provided for the introduction of a discharge-chute 18, which ispartly supported in position by the shaft 8, the latter passing throughan opening 19 near the inner end of said chute. At the opposite end ofthe machine is arranged a suitable feed hopper or chute17, adapted todeliver the fruit or vegetables into the space between the twocylinders.

At the discharge end of the machine are arranged a number of buckets 20,each consisting of a section of foraminous material bent into scoopshape and having its opposite sides secured, respectively, to the innersurface of the disk 14 and one of the spokes 16, said buckets being ofsufficient length to extend from the periphery of the inner cylinder 10to the outer cylinder 13 and serving to elevate the fruit or vegetablesfrom the water and discharge the same into the chute 18, the water beingdrained from the vegetables during the movement above the water-line.

At one end of the tank, preferably at the feed end, is a water-supplypipe 22, and at the discharge end is a water-discharge 23, the latterbeing arranged in about the horizontal plane of the closed cylinder forthe purpose of maintaining a constant level of water at a point slightlyabove the extreme lower edge of said cylinder, so that the fruit orvegetables which may rise to the top of the water will be prevented fromfloating from one side of the cylinder to the other.

The helical flange 12 extends from the closed cylinder to the outerforaminous cylinder and forms what may be considered a series ofchambers along the length of the shorter cylinder, there being nopassage for the fruit or Vegetables except that afforded by following Ition of the outer cylinder will be rolled to some extent by thecylinder, but will be protected from abrasion by the water. end of theclosed cylinder the vagetables are discharged into the space occupied bythe buckets 20 and are carried by said buckets up above the water-lineand drained and thence discharged into the chute 18.

In order to thoroughly wash the vegetables or fruit, we prefer tomaintain a constant flow of Water from end to end of the tank and in thesame direction as that followed by the vegetables during their travelthrough the machine.

Having thus described our invention, what we clairnis- In a machine forwashing vegetables and fruit, the combination of a water-tank, ahorizontal shaft, a closed cylinder carried by the shaft and presentinga smooth peripheral sur- At the face, a smooth-surfaced helical flangesecured to the periphery of the cylinder and extending throughout itslength, a foraminous cylinder secured to the peripheral edge of saidflange and projecting beyond its discharge end, a disk 14 to which thedelivery end of the outer cylinder is secured, a series of radial spokesconnecting the end of the closed cylinder with the outer cylinder,radial f0- raminous deliverybuckets extending from the inner to theouter cylinder and having their opposite edges connected to the spokesand the disk 14 respectively, a discharge-spout extending through acentral opening in the disk and receiving the drained product from theforaminous buckets, a water-supply at the feed end of the tank, and awater-discharge provided atthe discharge end of the tank in about thehorizontal plane of the lower portion of the closed cylinder, formaintaining a constant water-level and a constant flow in the directionof travel of the vegetables.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have heretoaffixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

MILTON H. BUTLER. CARL A. LARSON.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. OSWILL, L. O. LANGWORTHY.

